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Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820-1844 Hardcover – January 1, 2005

by Erick B. Welch John W.;Carlson (Author)

4.6 9 ratings

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Accounts of current and ancient manifestations of divinity

Print length

500 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Brigham Young University
Publication date

January 1, 2005
ISBN-10

0842526072
ISBN-13

978-0842526074
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brigham Young University (January 1, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 500 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0842526072
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0842526074
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.05 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #1,313,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.6 9 ratings

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Fenton

Interesting read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed the anecdotal stories and insights that the author shared. They are stories not traditionally told through mainstream Mormon sources.

4 people found this helpful

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Bay Gibbons

The Documents Themselves Are the Precious Jewel of This Book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 31, 2005

In this monumental collection of firsthand historical narratives, "Opening the Heavens" comes very close or fulfilling the bold prediction of the editor in his assertion that "this book . . . may be one of the most important LDS Church history books you will ever read. . . ." (from the Introduction). John W. Welch has assembled an impressive collection of original documents relating to six foundational topics in Mormon history: 1) the first vision; 2) the coming forth of The Book of Mormon; 3) the restoration of the priesthood; 4) Joseph Smith's lifetime visionary experiences; 5) the restoration of temple keys; and 6) succession in the presidency.

In scope, this collection can only be compared with Dan Vogel's five volume collection of "Early Mormon Documents," published between 1996 and 2003. However, unlike Vogel's comprehensive collection, Welch focuses almost exclusively upon firsthand and contemporaneous sources. This is refreshing, since the chief problem with Vogel's collection is that it casts its nets so wide as to include much material of dubious historical value. I have found Vogel's collection to be very helpful, but have often lamented that much by way of hearsay and polemics has been presented side by side with firsthand contemporaneous documents of great historical value. To use a legal analogy, Welch's collection seems closer to what might be "admissible" evidence in a court of law, whereas Vogel's collection seeks to bring in a vast quantity of pure hearsay and speculation from "witnesses" far removed from the actual events of Church history. After all, how much weight should we accord to a hearsay statement only first recorded forty, fifty or sixty years after the actual events?

Welch has not only provided faithful transcriptions of the actual documents themselves, but insightful essays written on each of the six chief topics.

While these essays are interesting, it is the documents themselves which are the precious jewels of this book.

I agree with Welch's insightful comment that "a generation from now, few people will care how various historians in our day have interpreted the past. . . But the original documents convey testimonies that will always be of the utmost interest." (From the Introduction).

With these collections by Vogel and now Welch, in hand, the day should be long past in studies of Church history, when any reader possessed of reasonable intelligence should put much further credence in the rarified theories of professional historians. Few academic writers have ever been honest enough to "proclaim their malefactions" - their personal bias - in their writing, pretending, instead that their work is "scientific." What many historical writers - both apologists and critics - fail to admit is that, "A fact is a fact", until you begin to string two or more facts together. Then it becomes a work of the imagination and not a science.

I have a few additional comments, criticisms and disappointments regarding this collection, as follows:

1. The best commentary in this set, by far, is that which precedes the collection of documents relating to the first vision. The excellent essay by Dean Jesse, and especially the one by James B. Allen and Welch himself, far exceed the others in clarity. Joseph Smith's ten accounts of the first vision, contained in thirteen documents, are then presented chronologically. Welch and Allen use the very helpful tool of providing charts summarizing the contents of each of the ten accounts.

2. Welch's collection of documents on the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is of almost equal clarity and quality to the collection on the first vision.

3. While the collection of priesthood restoration documents edited by Brian Q. Cannon is well presented, Cannon's commentary itself leaves something to be desired. I felt as if his writing lacks the clarity found in the previous essays of Jesse, Allen and Welch.

4. Most disappointing in this collection is the essay and collection by Alexander L. Baugh. In fact, there really isn't a collection of documents here, but only chronology and summary of seventy-six "visionary experiences" received by the Prophet during his lifetime. Why weren't the documents themselves published here? The chronology prepared by Baugh is helpful, but I want to see the documents, not merely Baugh's rather pedestrian essay.

5. The documents and essay regarding "Succession in the Presidency" are also disappointing, in that they focus solely upon the "mantle of the prophet" experience of 1844, and not upon other key events, such as the "rolling off of the keys" upon the Twelve or the additional authority conferred upon the Twelve in conjunction with the restoration of temple keys and the activities of the "quorum of the anointed" in Nauvoo from 1842 to 1844, etc.

6. Even with its several problems and disappointments, after a first reading I tend to agree with John Welch's initial suggestion that this "may be one of the most important LDS Church history books you will ever read."

Excellent book well worthy of the highest recommendation!

41 people found this helpful

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Original Eyewitness Accounts of the Restoration

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 6, 2008

I have always been a fan of LDS church history, and was thrilled to get my hands on this collection of primary sources of key events of the restoration. It contained many of the documents that I had read throughout my life in various sources, but the true treasure was the many other versions of events that I hadn't read before. An example is that it contained all 8 known versions of Joseph Smith's account of the first vision. I read five of these for the first time in this book. It also contained five second hand accounts of the first vision I had not read before.

There are a total of six sections in this book covering the first vision, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the priesthood, various visions, the restoration of the temple keys, and the mantle of the prophet Joseph being passed to Brigham Young. Each section begins with an essay summarizing the various accounts, which I found useful. The highlights of each section are the individual accounts of the events.

This book gave me a much better understanding of the details of these major events. There is nothing like seeing things from many different perspectives in both time and by individual to give one a big picture view of what really happened. As a believing Mormon, it has strengthened my testimony of the hand of God in the latter day restoration. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in LDS church history; this is an essential volume.

18 people found this helpful

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C. Fernando

Love the story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

Great book

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Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820-1844 Hardcover – January 1, 2005

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